New Delhi is currently the world’s most polluted city – crossing the safe limit by 17 times. It was so bad that government had to shut down schools for three days and hold off construction work in the city.

High smog levels in the capital came after the celebration of Diwali, where large amounts of fireworks and firecrackers were set off. This haze usually
lasts for two or three days. Like in other developing middle-income countries such as China, India is having to deal with high levels of pollution as a result of rapid urbanisation and economic growth.

But for most people life goes on as normal, as a man does his morning exercises on a road as heavy smog covers the city. The
air quality index has reached 999 in parts of New Delhi this week, more than 16 times the safe limit of 60. Anything above 500 is considered hazardous. In London, the AQI is 60.

The Indian Meteorological Department said on Wednesday it recorded the worst smog and visibility in 17 years. Levels of fine particle matter that enter deep into the lungs reached as high as 800 micrograms per cubic metre in four days – 30 times the guideline set by the World Health Organisation.